Rating Curve

This level was the beginning of a sort of "new dawn" of layouts. I remember seeing this for the first time and being genuinely blown away because prior to this level, pretty much nobody toyed with the concept of rotating a previously un-rotatable block. Now, I was 12 at the time and able to easily be impressed, and also nowadays we see levels like this all the time. I think I gotta give this one credit for being the first, though. For the level itself, though, the gameplay's just okay. The "decoration" is definitely more substantial for a "layout", but still not really winning any awards. I appreciate the push in the limits of the 1.0 blocks, however.

back at it again at krispy kreme glazed donuts yknow

cause that's what i'm doin right now

I made this level over four years ago

I think it's okay

Man oh man. Knots drops his first 2.2 level, and i'm hesitant at first, but I grew to love this.

Let me get some of the complaining out of the way first. Some of the transitions are wack as fuck. The sudden change to a temporary vertical ball was unexpected and slightly unwelcome, but you get used to it with practice. Some camera controls could have definitely used some work, the sudden snap to "broken_elevator" was not visually appealing in the slightest. Some color usage and movements are also a little weird (particularly in the latter parts). Okay, I think that's it. Now we get into why I love this level.

First of all, EXCELLENT theming. I like the idea of a computer program whose purpose is to help users cope with depressive problems and help people engage more, and managing to turn that into a level which looks awesome. I love some of the elements Knots puts in, such as the always on-screen UI, some elements of displays and computer programs, and all of the small details that make the level feel more full. Hell, as it would turn out, there's an entirely separate room for the coin route, which I didn't even realize EXISTED until I watched Nexus's video on the level. Definitely startled me, but it's definitely the most shocked i've been at a level in a damn long while. And despite what I complained about earlier, the actual color palette is great, and I love how it builds itself up as the level goes on. (Did you notice that the colors get added to the top left corner UI as they appear?) The designs are clean as always with Knots, and always innovative. I especially love the "do_not_blink" part.

The gameplay's nothing to write home about, but it is actually pretty fun, which i'm happy with. Sightreadability somehow isn't an issue, and I like how the kind of gameplay reflects the theming of certain parts. More creators should do that. Speaking of which, song representation is very good. I've heard some people don't like the song, but I really love it, even if it is a little goofy.

An azimuth is defined as the direction of a celestial object from the observer, expressed as the angular distance between the north or south point of the horizon. A strange definition, sure, but it ties in with the main symbol of the level, that being a compass. I think that's the only consistent theming there is, everything else is kinda just "mystical mysterious whatever". It works, though, so I can't really complain.

I was surprised to find this level placed at a 6.8 overall, because I quite like it. Sure, Knots's late 2.1 levels kind of all blend together (aside from Rectangle, I might get to that later), but I think each one is special in its own way. Azimuth in particular I believe excels at song representation. Or maybe I just like the song way too much. Either way, each part flows seamlessly with the song in a way that really sort of ties everything together, despite the general "whatever works" nature of the level. The visuals aren't perfect - some areas are kinda messy or weird, some visual bugs occur, the big block compass was funny for a few months before no one gave a shit anymore. But technically speaking, it's still excellent.

The gameplay is... there. It's incredibly boring in the first half, though it does improve slightly in the latter half. The gameplay isn't particularly good, it isn't particularly bad, it just exists to be as inoffensive as possible. I can't exactly talk about the gameplay if it basically doesn't exist.

This would probably pass as a three star if you pestered Rob enough idk

I have nothing nice to say about this level.

Oh, Rply. The man I first met when he made a poor experience in Greenagain has made my favorite 2.2 level of all time.

Firstly, I need to thank him for introducing me to commatose as a song. I'm not sure why the most secret levels with NONGs always manage to come up with absolute bangers (Cityfade, Well Rested, Etc.) but i'm thankful for it. I've been obsessed with commatose as a song since this level came out. Sure, levels do that often, but i'm sure it never goes unappreciated to the creator. Moreover what makes this great is that Rply actually put thought into his gameplay rather than just leaving it unreadable or unoriginal and boring. Gameplay is especially important when your level spans nine and a half minutes. Now, I haven't beaten the level myself, mostly because I have a massive skill issue, but I have run through it a couple times in practice, and I am SHOCKED by how well the sync works. Particularly in things like the UFO part and some of the orb timings he puts in.

It's not a stretch to say that nobody who currently plays Geometry Dash builds quite like Rply does. And I still haven't figured out how to pronounce the dude's name (reply? replay? what the fuck?). Rply strays as far away from the cleanliness and visual standards of most Geometry Dash creators and instead opts to just place down random shit that comes to his mind when he hears the song. Exactly how I would do if I still played. It especially works in the context of commatose, because it's a pretty varied song overall, thus there's a lot of room for interpretation. I like how Rply mostly sticks to the teal and orange color palette like it's seen on the plastic death album cover. The so-proclaimed "abyss angel", also on the album cover, is also a key element of the level, as it shows up almost everywhere. I love when creators use details like this in proper context, it adds undeniable charm to the level.

Another cool thing Rply does is take advantage of the UI trigger for some further song representation or other sort of visual elements that don't distract from the gameplay, but definitely make the level feel more complete. It's interesting, too, because as far as I have been able to tell, nobody has used the UI trigger quite like this. I'm really hoping it sticks around, though, because it has amazing potential. Overall, amazing gameplay, amazing decoration, amazing song representation, amazing song itself, god damn it Rply. I'm such a glazer it's unfathomable.

I'm gonna take steed in what a previous review wrote when talking about this level.

So, this level's entire purpose was to participate the Waboo contest. Are you at all surprised that this Dutch motherfucker won? Sure, it was visually impressive when I first viewed it, but over time my view on it tarnished as I kind of saw more and more off about it. This level is the absolute definition of overstimulation, which I never like seeing in a level, because that implies you care more about the YouTube views than the actual experience in playing the level. But, when you take into account Waboo's contest, that explains it all. Waboo is an absolute dumbass of a judge and only picks levels based on how flashy and attention-engaging they are, rather than the actual experience of the level.

Let's talk Rage Quit, then. Visually flashy and attention grabbing? Yes. Fun experience? In your dreams. I can't necessarily fault Bli for this, considering the entire level's gameplay is just Stereo Madness with some over-the-top visual effects. That in itself though makes this whole level a pretty sad experience. Not to mention with the nine screens section, you literally have to keep guessing which screen is the one you should be focusing on because one man can't control his anger. The visuals are about as Bli as they come. Need I say more? Pretty much every block moves and rotates because clearly there isn't enough moving shit already, and Bli's tendency to optimize with no end in sight shines through once again with things that look super realistic at a glance, but once you dive big into the details... it's bad.

Okay, straight to the point. This level is not good for several reasons.

First, i'm gonna discuss the general motive behind this level. This level exists solely for the views and the play button clicks and the internet clout. That's it. I think Small and Zylenox's level "Peaceful" tarnished the creating community in a way that led to levels like this existing, sparking an urge to make levels that were disturbing in the cheapest way possible. By abusing generic horror effects like smearing blood all over everything, having characters die in over-the-top fashions before turning them into amalgams, glitchy effects that fail to be offputting, all on top of the generic progression from a happy wonderland to bloody hell incarnate. Terrible.

On the topic of those glitchy effects, they actually affect the gameplay, such as making the level stutter or jump forward/backward. We clarified many times across Geometry Dash's lifespan that doing this is a bad idea and decreases the fun factor a significant amount. Apart from that, the gameplay itself is incredibly lackluster, and clearly was not made to be fun. More so just something that is playable, but that almost never ends up correlating with enjoyable. The decoration isn't good either, simply using basic 2.1 blocks with nothing more on top that could potentially make it stand out more. The art style is very inconsistent throughout the whole level, it all just reeks of clickbaitiness. Also, nice job adding the green guy in the last part who literally kills himself. If I was in a simulation named "too kiD frIEndly", i'd want to kill myself too.

ExtoPlasm, you should have acknowledged that Mr CrazyHands would forever be your magnum opus and left it at that.

I didn't realize how much I truly missed the "random effect parts" style until Xstar just comes back out of fuckin' nowhere and drops this. Although that's not technically true, since Xstar never stopped being active, I would argue that he's had a bit of a downfall and rise in popularity in the time between 2.1 and 2.2. Though I am definitely glad people remember his name, since he deserves it.

Xstar's levels are the epitome of "just do whatever shit comes to mind", and I love it. So, let's talk Imbue. The gameplay I can only sum up in one way. The gameplay should not at all be sightreadable, but it somehow is. Can someone explain?? Well I can, and it's through the fact that Xstar has absolutely mastered transitions to the point where they don't leave the player hanging on what the hell is coming up in the span of the next 1 second. He gives you plenty of time to react after the sick transition is done. Xstar also makes sure that none of the decoration interferes too much with the gameplay, thus still allowing for a fair experience. That being said, if you strip away all the effects, this level becomes a 4 star. Tsk tsk.

Okay, decoration. It seems a bit unfair to simply use the term "decoration" considering this level is 99% effect, but whatever. Actual block deco is kept simple to leave room for the effects that go over or under it all. And speaking of the effects, god DAMN. I've told myself this plenty of times, but i'm gonna make intense effects for major pulses/beats in the song, I wanna do it exactly like this guy does it. You will never get a more intense feeling from intense parts than playing this guy's levels, not even if [insert sex joke]. And i'll say it, THIS is how you use shaders god damn effectively. And probably also the absolute most you should do with camera controls if you ain't making a platformer. It's just intense enough to get the hard point across while not being overly annoying.

Alright, enough yapping. I gotta ask Xstar where he gets his crack.